


For Sickness and In Health

by Thestorans



Series: One Shot Gallery [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Disease, Drama, Fluff, Hospital, M/M, Niall-centric, Protective Harry, Protective Liam, Protective Louis, Protective Zayn, Sad Niall, Seizure, Sick Niall, meningitis, the boys are not in one direction in this, worried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 15:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6289225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thestorans/pseuds/Thestorans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall just had the flu, thats all it was. Until it wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Sickness and In Health

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so i was thinking about this one shot series for a while because i have a one shot book at my wattpad account, and I am pretty proud of some of them on there, but I also wanted to share some on ao3 to give people a teaser to the other one shots i have on the book that I am not posting on this gallery. So, hope you enjoy. Plus I'll be posting other one shots that I randomly made on here also. 
> 
> (Just a side note, I am not a professional doctor or know anything about health issues or how to deal with health issues like nurses/doctors do. So please keep that in mind as you read this story and understand some things MAY be false. But I looked most of it up on the internet as my source.)

"Are you sure you're okay?" 

"Liam, please I'm fine I just need rest. You know that's how you get better when you have the flu." Niall croaked out, letting out a cough through the phone. Liam cringed, he didn't like hearing his boyfriend sound so horrible, and he has been sick for three days now, and nothing has gotten any better. It's just been constant headaches, coughs, and body aches. 

"Li? Hey don't worry about me I can take care of myself. All four of ya' have been calling me all day nagging me to get some food and rest. I'm twenty two." Niall chuckled, but right after hacked out a cough again making Liam cringe, again. 

"Alright, well-"

"Enough about me, how's the business coming along? Airplanes flying?" Liam didn't like how Niall changed the subject, but there was no sense fighting the blond on this, so he let out a long sigh before answering, trying to get his brain back together. 

"Fine, the new guy I hired, Dan? He's doing really well, he's helping me with a propeller on the Cessna 172." 

"English."

"Sorry, ha, uhm the light aircraft. Smaller ones." Liam chuckled out at Niall's little understanding of the different types of planes. Even though Liam has been working there ever since he got out of Uni when he was twenty. 

"Okay, well I better get off the phone so you can back to work. Love you." Liam smiled, saying 'I love you' back before hanging up. 

 

"I'm home! Niall? It's Harry!" Harry heard the small shuffle of footsteps, and was surprised to see the blond come out from the living room. 

"What are you doing in there? You should be asleep in bed love." Harry grabbed Niall's hands, tugging the blond in so he could kiss him on the cheek. It was so hard to not kiss his blond boyfriend on the lips, but he'd rather not get the flu. 

"Why are you home so early? It's just 3 o'clock, usually you come home at 5." Niall kept his hold on Harry's hands, moving the curly lad into the living room and pushing him down so he could lay across his chest, making Harry chuckle and rub the blond's back. 

"I wanted to come home to help my sick boyfriend get better. Besides, business was slow today. It's better on the weekends." Niall coughed, covering his mouth and cringing making Harry pat his back and let him have another fit before the blond slumped back against his chest, cheek smushed against the shirt. 

"It's just the flu Harold. I'm not dying or anything. God you boy's are like vultures, Liam called me earlier, Louis called me twice, Zayn called me at the tattoo parlour, it was even while he was doing a freaking tattoo on someone, I could hear the needle in the background." Harry laughed, throwing his head back against the armrest, making Niall slap his chest and groan. 

"I am bombarded by you boys and I can't really get any rest when I have a call every hour." Niall picked at the loose strands of fabric against Harry's shirt, making the curly lad struggle to look down to see what the blond was doing. But he grabbed at Niall's hand, holding it in his and bringing it to his lips to kiss at the knuckles. He took a mental note of how cold they were. 

Niall let out a sigh, biting his bottom lip as he watched Harry kiss every part of his hand. "Why did I agree to this five person relationship?" 

Harry smiled into Niall's hand, giving it a small pulse of a squeeze before kissing it again. "Because you love us." 

 

It was dinner time, the five boyfriends were sat at the table, all eating peacefully with the meal Harry had made after they had all showed up. Louis was still in his suit from teaching at the University, Liam still had his blue mechanic shirt on with his name imprinted onto it, and Zayn had his own little shirt with his tattoo place printed on the front. Harry had managed to pry Niall's cuddle-infested body off of him to clean himself up for dinner, so he was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

And Niall? Well the blond was comfortable in his fuzzy robe and pyjamas. 

"So, how was work for you boys today?" Liam asked as he cut his chicken. 

"Some kid came to class looking as high as a kite. And I'm pretty sure he was. God, I smoke weed but I'm a decent enough person to not smoke and go to a place that I need to get a good impression from." They all chuckled at Louis' banter, the oldest boyfriend always acted the youngest out of the group. But when it came to business and actually being the adult he is, he truly is impressive. 

"Imagine if the kids knew you smoked weed and cigarettes. They'd flip." Zayn mumbled making Louis glare at him. 

"Oh shut up Malik you do the same thing." 

"Well I got into the tattoo business. It's almost unheard of for a tattoo artist to not smoke weed or at least a cigarette. You, got yourself into that fancy business where you have to dress up and look like you give a shit." Harry was trying not to smile at Zayn's comeback, but the curly lads dimples were starting to show themselves. Liam was doing the same thing, looking down at his plate to hide his smile. 

"Enough you too. You fight like a married couple." Liam was back to being the authoritative person of the group, putting on the stern face as he flipped his gaze from Zayn to Louis. The boys knew Liam was trying to look tough and scary, but really it was hot as hell. 

"Okay big guy, calm down. How was the planes today?" Louis asked, and then Liam started to talk again, all the boys letting out laughter throughout the house, occasionally plucking in a piece of food into their mouths. It was the usual dinner conversations, but every time it was even better. 

The laughter died down after a few minutes of Harry's small story of how the day was slow. Louis was staring at Niall who was across from him at the table, seeing the blond chewing silently on his food, but his brows were in a permanent knot on his forehead, and his eyes were trained down at nothing. He watched for a second, not really worried, just admired his beautiful boyfriend. But then he saw it, it was just a weird bump at first, at least that's what it looked like from Niall's nose. But then it grew larger and then it was just a pour of blood dripping down Niall's nose, past his lips and dripping off his chin and onto his plate of food. 

"Shit, babe!" Zayn yelled before Louis could, and everyone was pushing off their seats, even Niall who was cupping his hands over his chin to stop the blood from dripping. He was trying to tip his head back, but the boys noticed he was having trouble even doing that. 

"Get a cloth, get a cloth!" Harry yelled at no one in particular as he grabbed at Niall and looked at the blonds nose. It was still bleeding rapidly, and it looked like a clot had burst. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Liam rushed back into the dining room, immediately getting to Niall's side and placing the cloth over the blonds nose. Louis was frozen in place, stood up at his chair with his arms limp at his side as he watched in silence. He watched it happened, and now it was worrying him deeply how quick it turned from just a small drip, to a waterfall. 

"Boys, please." Niall was trying to speak, but the cloth was muffling his voice and the boys were all talking at once, trying to talk to him. The blond was getting frustrated, and pushing Liam away just the slightest bit so he could grab onto the cloth and hold it himself. But he was glaring now, anger boiling in his gut as he stared at his boyfriends that were still shooting questions at him. 

"Stop! Fucking hell I'm not four. It's just a nose bleed boys. I'm not dying, I'm not going to die. So just relax and leave. Me. Alone." Niall was off rushing up the stairs. But once he got to the top he had to hold onto the wall for support, nausea and dizziness taking over his body making him whimper. But he was glad to hear no footsteps rushing after him. 

He knew something was wrong, and yeah it wasn't just a nose bleed, or it wasn't just a sickness. But he hasn't properly rested the whole day with the four boys nagging him. And he was a little upset that it had to end like this, but he needed rest more then anything, and maybe that was the cure to finally get himself back together. 

So, he moved to the spare bedroom, making sure his nose was cleaned up and no blood was dripping down anymore. And maybe he threw up a little bit when he felt the world spinning around him. But again, he hasn't rested, and resting is always the best cure. And when he was finally in bed, he had no trouble falling asleep. It felt like he was on the clouds, like he was drifting, but surely it was a good place he was drifting to. 

 

"I can't sleep." Louis groaned out as he shuffled onto his other side on the bed. Liam groaned from beside Louis, furrowing his brows and slowly opening his eyes to glare at his boyfriend. Zayn's arms were wrapped around his torso from behind, the black-haired man was in a dead sleep, lightly snoring against his neck. And Harry, well the man was up also, sitting up in bed. 

"Come on you two. Go to bed, Niall wanted some space and he's frustrated. I mean who wouldn't be if they were sick for that long and weren't getting any better?" Louis was pondering on Liam's words, but Harry seemed to be in his own place. 

"But that's just it Li. He's been sick for a week now and then he gets a nose bleed? He should be better by now, and a nose bleed that big is worrisome." Louis did have a good point, and Harry seemed to snap out of his daze to look down at Louis. 

Liam shuffled up on the bed, sitting up on the headboard and watching Zayn sniffle and turn in his sleep till he relaxed back onto the mattress. "Then we can take him to the doctor in the morning. Just please-Harry what are you doing babe?" Liam was interrupted when Harry got out of bed and started to move out of the room. And since the man was up, Louis bolted out of the bed also, and now two of them were walking out of the room. 

Liam huffed, he really didn't want to get out of bed, and he really didn't want to piss his blond boyfriend off anymore then he already was. But he slowly got out of the bed also, telling himself he was just going to make sure his other two boyfriends weren't going to do anything stupid. But then again he really wanted to see if Niall was okay. 

But he didn't even take one step out of the room before he heard two separate gasps and the scream of "Niall" leaving Harry and Louis' mouths. It made him flinch and stand in place for just a second before he was rushing off down the hallway. He saw Harry frozen in place by the door, but then Louis was by the bedside, calling Niall's name but not touching the blond. 

Liam couldn't really see because Harry was in the way, but once he heard the "call 999!" Liam was off and rushing down the hallway and back into the room to grab the home phone. He could see Zayn slowly waking up in the corner of his eye. 

"What's going on?" Zayn mumbled, but Liam was too busy. His heart was beating so loudly he could hear it echo through his ears. His breath was rigid and short and he could barely breath when a woman on the other end finally picked up. 

"Hello? 999 what is your emergency?" 

"I-I don't know what's happening, but my boyfriend he's hurt or something." Liam felt stupid being so clueless, but everything was some spiral. He couldn't register himself to go back into the room and check and see what was really wrong with Niall. His brain had completely gone flat, hearing the yells of Niall's name were the only things he could hear. 

"Sir, we need to know exactly what's wrong with him so we can tell you what to do before the ambulance comes. We don't want him dying if it's serious, okay?" The woman spoke so kindly and smooth that it actually calmed Liam just the smallest bit. And the man started to move towards the room again, this time seeing Harry away from the door and in the room with Louis. 

And this time, he could see Niall. And it was a terrifying sight. 

The blond was stiff along the bed, back arched and hands gripped onto the bars of the headboard. His body was lightly shaking, head twitching just the slightest bit as he stared up at the ceiling with glossed-over eyes. 

"He-he-oh god-he's just twitching and is really stiff. He won't move or talk. My other boyfriends are trying to get him out of it but-but he won't stop." Liam felt like he knew the name of whatever Niall was having, could feel like he knew the symptoms. But again, he couldn't think straight knowing that one of the loves of his life might die. 

"Alright, what's your name son?" She asked. This woman sounded so calm, it was weird to Liam. Someone was crying and everything was hectic on the other side of the phone, but she still had a calm voice and spoke with no stutter or shake. 

"L-Liam." 

"Okay Liam, now your boyfriend is having a seizure and I need you to follow what I say." 

"Oh god, o-okay, is the ambulance coming?" 

"Yes. Liam I want you to make sure your boyfriend is on a soft surface, make sure he's not banging his head against anything." 

"O-okay." Liam pulled the phone away from him, catching Louis and Harry's gazes as they stared at him with tear-filled eyes. 

"Make sure his head isn't banging up against anything, like it's not hitting the headboard." Liam explained, and both boys followed his orders, checking Niall's head. 

"Now what?" Liam was back on the phone. And he felt a presence beside him. He looked over his shoulder to see Zayn standing behind him, eyes wide and mouth hung opened in shock. Liam's hand went out to grab Zayn's, squeezing it and holding it in comfort as he listened to the lady on the other line give the instructions. 

"Now I want you to turn him on his side. Because fluids are going to be forming in his mouth and we don't want him to choke." Liam nodded and told the boys that, and he almost cried out when he saw the white foam burst out of Niall's mouth, it falling from his lips onto the bed. His hands were off the bars, but were now just shaking in mid-air. 

"Okay now I want you all by his side. Don't hold him down or put anything in his mouth because that may cause injury to him. The ambulance is on it's way." When the woman was done, she told him to stay on the phone. And Liam had to admit as he moved to sit on the bed, Zayn still holding his hand, Louis and Harry on either side of Niall watching. It was one of the scariest things that he has ever seen. Looking at the blond, being useless and having to just simply watch the love of his life suffer like that. And having to see the other loves of his life look so defenceless. 

It felt like years, a millennium until the door to their house burst opened and paramedics came rushing up the house and into the room. They were holding a stretcher and many medical objects in their hand. And when they told the boys to all move away, it felt like they were being tugged apart from crazy glue. It took a minute or so before they were all fully away and the man and woman were rushing forward. 

It was another minute or so before Niall was hooked up to many machines and being wheeled out of the room. Liam was holding Louis and Zayn's hands now, Louis holding onto Harry's. They were all silently praying with pain in their hearts as they watched Niall disappear out of the house and into the ambulance. 

 

They were all sitting in the waiting room. It was painful, every second since they all first saw Niall flailing around on the bed. They didn't get any break, any time to breath because all they thought about was a doctor coming out and saying that their blond boyfriend was dead. 

"How did we not notice?" Louis looked over to see Harry looking through a website on signs of a seizure.

"Harry, please don't beat yourself up. Just, relax." 

"Relax? I had to watch my fucking boyfriend suffer with agony for a good couple minutes. And who knows how long he was a having that seizure till we came in. How am I supposed to stay calm?" Harry's voice was slightly rising, and people were starting to look at them. Liam and Zayn were shuffling over, and Zayn's hand settled on Harry's to calm him. But the curly lad was restless, body stiff and bottom lip sucked in-between his teeth. He was eating himself out because of this, completely pissed. Louis felt a pain in his heart once again. 

"He'll be okay-

"Don't. Lie." Harry growled out, and the three boys were all taken back. It was a tone Harry never used, and it brought them all to shuffle uncomfortably in their seats. And that's when the conversation ended, and they all sat in the waiting room. It was quiet, with people skimming magazines and chatting silently to their family members, but in the four boys minds, it was like a bomb went off. Complete catastrophe. 

 

"Is anyone here for Niall Horan?" A man stood with a white doctors coat on. And the four boys bolted out of their seats, rushing forward and moving out of the room to stand in front of the doctor. They were all searching his facial expression, seeing if he looked sad, devastated, angry, happy. But the man held a stone expression, and maybe he was trained to do that. 

"So mister Horan had a seizure, and immediately we decided to do a spinal tap because he was showing other worrying symptoms that needed to be taken into attention. And we have found some disturbing news, but something we can treat." The word "disturbing" made all the boys freeze, and tears were welling up in all their eyes. This man was dragging his words around, they just wanted to hear what Niall had, what they could do to help, and if Niall will survive this or be permanently damaged. 

"Mister Horan has Bacterial Meningitis." The first thing that came to all four of the boys mind was "what is that?" but then again, they knew what that was. But why Niall? The blond got sick a lot, sure, but nothing serious and usually it was just a nasty cough that went away in a few days. This was a shock to all four of the boyfriends, and they just stood in front of the man, mouths moving but nothing coming out. 

"I understand this might be a little hard to take in. It's a shock to not only you boys but me and my team also. Meningitis isn't common but may be contagious also. So we need all four of you boys to be in separate rooms and checked out before you make any contact with anyone."  They all seemed to just follow silently behind the man, they were still at a loss of words. They didn't even really care about the fact that they might actually be infected, or that they might go through the same pain that Niall was going through. 

But when it was time to have them separate, that's when they started getting back to their senses. Louis had moved and grabbed Liam's arm, making Liam move closer to him. But the doctor gave them a look, and saw Harry shuffling towards Zayn. 

"Boys, I need you all to be separated. You need to follow me so I can do separate spinal taps and full evaluation." None of them moved, and they had all just blinked at the doctor before Liam was the first one to move forward, giving Louis a look when the older male gripped his arm tighter. 

"You can head with Nurse Malerie." The doctor looked relieved, and slowly the boys separated. And it brought them flips through their stomachs, because they couldn't kiss each other goodbye, nothing. It made them uneasy, and they couldn't imagine what their blond was going through for precautions. 

 

If felt like forever until they were all reunited again, and all being relieved to know that the results came back negative for bacterial meningitis. But they still had heavy hearts as they sat in the chairs of a different waiting room, this one being private. 

"I want to see him, boys." Zayn mumbled, his hair was ruffled and mangled on his head, eyes still baggy from lack of sleep. He was playing with his pyjama pant strings, ringing them around his fingers to pass time. 

"We all do, fuck I'm getting tired of waiting with no answers to breath on. I tried asking people when they were doing the spinal, but they wouldn't answer me." Louis looked mad, he was losing his temper by the hour. And the boys had to admit, they were all on edge. 

"Yeah, I tried talking to them, to see if Nialler was okay. But they just told me to calm down and relax, stay still so the needle won't move when they did it." Harry rubbed at his eyes, slumping his head into his hands. A silence wiped over them, and there was no conversation, no urge to eat something, no sleepiness. They were all awake and had no plans on doing anything, they were complete vegetables. And it was two hours later when the doctor came walking into the room, he looked as equally as exhausted, and closed his eyes when the four boys bolted towards him and starting spitting questions left and right. 

"He is stable, we have him in intensive care and in quarantine because we still aren't a hundred percent sure if he's contagious or not. He needs to be completely healed before we can allow you to see him." 

Louis chuckled, but it was an angry, dangerous one as he shook his head in disgust. 

"No, I don't give a shit if I get meningitis, I wouldn't have cared if he had rabies. I want to see him, and I-we are going to see him." Harry had to sneak his hand in to clasp onto Louis' wrist, rubbing his thumb along the inside of it to calm him. 

The doctor was silent, and was staring right back at Louis biting his lip in thought. The two were having some staring contest until the man spoke again, and he sounded wary. 

"Look, we have one last test to go through to see if Mister Horan is in fact contagious. If he is, I'm sorry but there is nothing for me to compromise with. But if he isn't, then I will get you in there with him as soon as possible." Louis wasn't sure at the doctors answer, and he was biting his lip hard between his teeth, but when Liam moved him back, lips coming in contact with his ear to calm him, he slowly backed off and sat himself down on one of the seats again. 

"Thank you for your patience. It really helps me and my staff. We will be back soon with more information." And then the doctor disappeared, and the four boys were once again thrown back into the void of silence. 

 

Everyone was asleep but Harry, who sat in his chair with his head rested against the wall, he was chewing on the inside of his cheek in nervousness. He hated the wait, how it dragged on and on like nails against a chalkboard. It felt like someone was slowly ripping the bandaid off him, torturing him to the final answer. 

He knew the answer wasn't death, although it used to be. But Niall was one fourth of his life, one fourth of his heart. And if the blond haired, blue eyed angel died, well what would his future become? And now as he thought about that, he started to fidget, and his palms were becoming sweaty. He tried running his fingers through his hair, but they were shaking too much, and he had to sigh warily and close his eyes. Swearing under his breath in pain. 

He flinched when he felt a hand come in soft contact with his knee, making him whip his head up to stare at Zayn who was blinking up at him with hooded eyes and still messy hair. He looked like he aged fifty years in just those couple hours, it wasn't a good look on him. Sadness wasn't attractive. 

"You haven't slept? Babe you need to relax, take a breather." Zayn croaked out, blinking rapidly to adjust to the lighting and sitting himself up from the hard tile floor he was sleeping on. Louis and Liam were cuddled up on the couch, Louis fully on top of Liam with their scruffs mushed together. 

"I can't, I don't think I will until I know for sure he's okay. That he's smiling and laughing." Harry didn't meet Zayn's eyes, him looking down at his nails as he picked at them for amusement. 

Zayn rested his head upon Harry's shoulder and sighed, letting out a large yawn that Harry had to look away from before he did the same thing. Sleeping sounded amazing, it sounded like a luxury that he never got to have. But Harry just couldn't, he would feel wrong, like he hurt Niall if he did that. He somehow felt like he needed to show Niall that no matter what, he wouldn't do anything without knowing Niall was blinking. 

Zayn was about to speak, his hand coming out to rub Harry's back, but then the door opened and all four of them were bolting out of their chairs and rushing forward. Even Liam and Louis, the pair scrambling up with dazed eyes and barely functional minds to run forward and wait for the doctors final answer. 

"I'm so sorry you boys had to wait like this. But it was all worth it because Mister Horan's form of  Meningitis isn't contagious. So you boys may see him." And when the doctor said that, the four boys were yelling in happiness, hugging each other. It took a lot in them to not kiss each other in front of the doctor. But smiles were finally upon their faces and it felt like they haven't smiled in forever. 

"But, I would like you boys to wear surgical masks and latex gloves in the room with him. We checked and it was negative for contagious disease, but we want to make sure it doesn't spread to any of you boys like we thought it would've before." The boys just nodded, not really even hearing the man's words and instructions. They were too blinded by the fact that they would finally get to see their boyfriend, after hours and hours of agonized waiting. 

 

They followed the doctor down the hallway, maneuvering past people in wheelchairs, families rushing up and down past them, either with food in their hands, or holding each others as they searched for their loved ones room. 

They walked for a while, and soon they came to a pair of doors. And the man stopped, turning towards them with a stern expression on. He still looked unsure with his decision, but he knew Louis would have his head on a plate if he changed his mind now. So he gave them a stiff smile, going towards a little desk by the doors and grabbing some of the gloves and the surgical masks. 

"Please put these on before we head inside. And I'll give you some warnings since you boys look pretty shaken up already. Mister Horan is on high alert throughout the whole hospital, we have tubes coming from his mouth, nose, arms and stomach to check on his organs and breathing. He does look very unwell also but that's just because of the meningitis. He is doing better, even though it doesn't look like it." The boys were thankful that the doctor said those warnings, they tried to prepare. But everyone prepares for the worst, and it always becomes worse then they thought it was. Preparing was useless, really. In this situation at least.

Once they all put everything on, looking at each other and giving each other small nods and looks of assurance that they were all okay and ready. The doctor took them inside, and it didn't look that bad it just looked like another part of the hospital, but they couldn't look inside patients rooms, they were all closed, locked even. And some had a cart of suits and full plastic masks in front of them. And the boys found themselves squishing together in a little group, holding onto each other in some type of way again as they got deeper and deeper into the certain facility. 

"Okay, ready?" The doctor stopped them by the door, his voice muffled by his own mask. And the boys looked at the door, it was locked also, and the man had to grab for a key. There was no glass window to look into, it was just a plain door really, but it still sent shivers running down the boys' spines. Because it was just the slightest change, the slightest obscured look to it that made it not normal, made it look wrong and serious. 

The boys had just nodded silently, and the man let that be the queue for him to open the door, and when it did, he walked in first, keeping it opened for Zayn to catch it and walk in, then another, then another, and another till everyone was in and the door was slowly closed behind them. 

It was scary inside, they could hear the beeping of the machine. And it was fairly dark, the blinds closed to make the room like just as gloomy and depressing as the rest of the hospital. But they still couldn't see their blond boyfriend, there was a curtain in the way. But it was really only there for a second before the doctor was opening it, revealing their boyfriend, all frail and tiny, laid out on the bed on his back. And truly, he looked dead. 

"Shit." Louis mumbled, his hand was locked with Liam's, and Harry and Zayn could see how tight the two were holding onto each other. And they were also, their hands crushing each others. 

"Baby," Liam said breathlessly, shakily sitting himself down on the chair, and Harry and Zayn moved on the other side. Louis was still standing at the end of the bed, eyes wide as he flickered his gaze around Niall's frame hidden by the plain white blanket. 

"I'll leave you boys alone, press that red button on the side by his head if he wakes up or there's any difficulties." The boys nodded again, like robots. They didn't leave their gazes from their loved one, they felt weak again, like they couldn't do anything. Just like when the blond was having a seizure, when they just sat there, staring down at him, waiting for it all to stop. 

And now they sat around, waiting for him to wake up. Waiting for the blond to look at them and realize that he survived this, that Niall will be able to go home and laugh again, not scream in pain or lay in a bed that wasn't his. 

 

It was a few days later when everything went a little shit again. It was scary, just like the seizure. It had them all shaken to the core. And Harry and Zayn were even crying when they had to be shoved out of the room. Niall's screams heard muffled by the door separating them once again. 

Niall had woken up, and it wasn't happy. He didn't simply blink his eyes opened, give his boyfriends a good look around and then smile. He did blink his eyes opened, that really being the only thing that was simple. The boys smiled under their masks, moved to huddle around the blond and stare down at him in a half circle. And Niall looked at them after giving a good hard stare up at the ceiling. But when he locked gazes with their smiling eyes, he freaked out. 

He screamed, it was loud and shrilling, it chilled the four boys down to their toes. It was like someone had stabbed them in the chest over and over again. And they all just stood there, eyes widening down at their boyfriend, trying to yell overtop of him to stop and calm down, that it was them. It was just Harry, Liam, Louis, and Zayn. But to Niall they were some aliens. 

And it really, really scared them. 

Then the room was chaos. Nurses and doctors flew into the room without the red button even being pulled. Niall's screams were that loud. And people pushed the boys out of the way, they could see a needle being put into Niall's I.V, and it scared them even more. What was happening? Was Niall dying? Was the blond going to die? Were they the reason their boyfriend was in pain again? 

They tried not the think about the last question that rung throughout their minds. But when three nurses came rushing up to them, forcing them out into the hallway. With their own latex gloves on and masks strapped behind their ears. The boys couldn't help but think that, it was the only thing that sounded logical. As soon as the blond looked at them, it was like he was looking into his worst nightmare. 

So they sat outside for another couple hours, just outside the door. Harry had his head buried into Liam's neck, arms wrapped around the mans waist, trying to get to him as close as possible. Zayn was the same, but he was just laying his head against Louis' shoulder, trying to calm himself down from his crying fit. 

When the doctor did come back out of the room, he looked a couple years older, tired and warn out. And that wasn't a good sign, the boys didn't even get up to greet him, or yell at him for answers. They all stayed where they were, tears in their eyes and some dried against their cheeks. 

"I'm sorry you boys had to see that. If we knew that's how Mister Horan would react when he woke up, I would've warned you when we first got in there. But I will assure you-"

"You assure us so much. But it seems everything you say backfires." Louis' words had Zayn shushing him, a hand coming out to rub at the small brunets chest. And the doctor didn't seem fazed, he just kept on going. 

"I assure you, with certainty. That what happened was Mister Horan's meningitis. Meningitis affects the brain, and can cause illusions. So when Mister Horan woke up, he saw you boys with masks on and gloves, he probably didn't recognize you or where he was. He saw you as some monsters or strangers, then his friends. So please, keep that in mind and don't beat yourselves up too much." When the doctor was finished, the boys had to let that sink in, just blinking at the opposite wall to the hallway till one of them answered the man. 

"Can we see him again? Or...?" Harry asked, his voice was wrecked from his crying, and he looked like he needed to sleep for days on end. And they all seemed to deflate when the man frowned and shook his head. 

"Mister Horan was put under for a little bit. He'll wake up again soon I promise. But I'll need professionals in there for when he wakes up, in case he acts up again. It should ware off soon, it should've already, but we'll keep a very close eye on him till then." The boys didn't know what to do now, they were all just sitting there like stuffed toys, all limp and emotionless. Stuffing gone from their bodies till they were nothing. 

"Why don't you boys go eat? The cafeteria should be opened still. Just go sit and relax, remember what I said. It wasn't  your fault and Niall is just progressing slowly." The boys looked at each other, and they all wanted to stay, when they looked into each others eyes they saw the glimmer of resistance. But they needed to eat, and what good would they be just laying there by the door? 

"Come on." Liam sighed out, and he grabbed onto Harry's hand, tugging him up and curling his arm around his waist. Louis and Zayn followed slowly, all of them walking side by side down the hallway till they got to the doors again, and once they walked out, they felt like they could breath again by taking off their masks and gloves that made their hands all sweaty and got them smelling like plastic. 

"Even though he told us not to worry, I'm still going to worry like crazy." Zayn mumbled, and the boys all nodded in agreement. How could they not? Nothing has gone right since Niall's first horrible symptoms had occurred. 

 

They sat at a table in the cafeteria. Eating slowly and not really talking. They were all in each others heads, it wasn't healthy, to be in their heads at this time. And every bite was painful, and all they could really think about was being by their boyfriends bedside again. But what else could they do? there was a pain in there chests that wouldn't go away, and felt like it never would. If they didn't think, if they didn't talk to themselves in their minds, then they'd go crazy. 

"Is he that bad? So bad that he can't even recognize us?" Harry asked, it was bugging him so much, that question. And he couldn't get Niall's screaming and pained face out of his head, it was stuck their permanently. 

Louis shrugged, picking at his food with his fork. He wasn't even half done, he was eating so slow. "I guess. He didn't look any better, he hasn't changed or shown any signs of change. That bastards probably lying his ass off just to make us feel better." The boys knew he was talking about the doctor, and Liam settled a hand on top of Louis', rubbing his thumb along the knuckles. 

"He may be keeping things from us. But if he was dying, they wouldn't lie, that's illegal. We can't think the worst, if we do we'll get sick of worrying. Niall woke up, and that's a sign, he may have not woken up in the best way, but we saw him open his eyes. Please just, think about that." Liam said, he was doing a good job at keeping everyone at bay, but Louis was a stubborn man. 

"But he wasn't sane when he opened woke. He wasn't in the right mind. Liam he didn't recognize us, that's a big warning sign." Louis' other hand that wasn't being rubbed by Liam's, was squeezing his thigh roughly, and he was glaring down at his food, fringe flopping over his face to hide it. 

"It is, but please Louis, please. Just think good things, for Niall." Liam patted at his hand and grabbed at it, squeezing it and bringing it up for a quick kiss before people could notice. And Louis' shoulders lightly loosened in tension, him slowly looking back up to start eating again. Harry and Zayn seemed to un-tense also. It was always a silent wash of worry whenever Louis got like that, being frozen in anger and not speaking. It affected Harry and Zayn the most, but when Louis calmed down, they immediately did too. It was the domino affect, and Liam was usually the one to put them back together. Or Niall, but he wasn't there at the moment. 

 

"Boys." The doctor walked up to them. It had been another couple days, and they had all been exhausted and down to their wits end for waiting. They were only aloud to go in for a couple minutes, just to look at the blond, no touching, no kissing, no words. It was pure torture and every day was like they ran a marathon without even doing anything, they were that drained of energy. 

But when the man walked in, they all jumped to their feet, bombarding him once again. And this time the doctor was smiling, he looked his age, and the boys were already feeling the weight lifting off their chests. 

"Come on. He's awake and ready to see you boys." The man smiled, and the boys were rushing beside him, grabbing for their masks and gloves and quickly putting them on. Their hearts were all beating heavily against their chests, and their breaths were hot and fast against their masks as they got to the door, the doctor giving them one last smile and sharp nod before opening it, and this time letting them walk in first.

Louis was the first to see the blond, then Zayn, and then Harry and Liam. It was weird, and it felt like it was them seeing an illusion at first. How Niall was sat up in bed, still looking sick, his skin too pale and eyes drooping. But the curtains were opened and they could see every freckle, the glisten of his big blue eyes as he smiled when he saw them. The blond actually smiled, it was just a twitch and so small they barely caught it. But they did, and they smiled wildly, Liam even chuckled he was so happy. 

"Nice to see your eyes again, sleepy head." Zayn mumbled, cautiously moving forward till he was sitting beside the blond on a chair. And once he sat down, the other boys followed. Until they were by Niall, looking at the blond with so much adoration Niall looked overwhelmed with happiness. 

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I-I don't remember anything, at all really. But the nurse told me how much I worried you boys, and-and I'm really sorry you had to go through that." Niall was picking at his fingernails, he looked too weak to even lift his head, his whole body was limp and barely moving. It looked like a hard task to even simply talk. 

"Hey, babe don't say sorry okay? In the end we got ya' back. Yeah?" Louis patted at the blonds leg, and Niall tried smiling, but it was just a twitch at the side of his mouth. 

"And we're sorry you had to go through all that. We-we didn't even notice, we should've noticed, but we-"

"Hey, now I'm gonna tell you to stop saying that. You didn't know, and meningitis isn't just a normal thing. It's rare and uncommon and the symptoms are normal colds at first. That's what the doctor told me at least. So please, just, sit with me? No more sorry's and blaming?" Niall closed his eyes after that, but he was still awake based on his thumb lightly rubbing against the back of his other hand that was settled on his lap. 

They sat there in the most peaceful silence that they've had for days. And the boys felt like they were in heaven again, it was perfect. 

"I love you boys, you know that, right?" Niall opened one eye, trying to smile. 

Harry chuckled and curled his arms around Zayn's bicep, resting his head against the mans shoulder. "Course babe." He mumbled, and Niall closed his eyes again after Harry's reassurance and the other boys nods of agreement. Satisfied with answer, and falling back asleep. 

 

"Home we go! Oh home we go!" Louis sang happily as he skipped out of the hospital, dragging Zayn behind him making the tanned man grumble and roll his eyes. But he was smiling, showing his teeth. 

Harry and Liam came out next, Harry's hands occupied by rolling Niall's wheelchair out the door. Liam was carrying all of the blonds hospital supplies and pills that he needed to take while he was home. 

"Stop singing, you're creating a scene Lou!" Niall mumbled, but was also smiling in amusement at his older boyfriends actions. Colour was returning to his skin, there was still dark circles under his eyes, and he could only walk down the hospital hallway and back since the last time they tried. But he was free of worried contagion, and there was no illusions or worries of any other symptoms. So the hospital didn't need him anymore, and it was the best thing they have all heard in a long time. 

"What? I can't be happy that I'll get to sleep with all four of my boyfriends again for the first time in forever?" Louis teased as they got to the car. Liam and Harry both grabbed at one of Niall's arms, helping the blond up and into the car before packing the wheelchair and supplies in the trunk. Niall only needed the wheelchair in case they needed to go somewhere and needed to walk for a bit. But they also got some crutches for the blond to use. 

"You can be as happy as you want." Niall chuckled out, grabbed for Louis' collar when the man was about to close the door. Niall pulled him in for a deep kiss. It felt amazing to kiss again, touch again. They got to do that just a few days ago. And it was a good thing, because Niall was getting frustrated, and there was a couple times when the blond would pick at their masks, whining for "just one peck?" or "maybe a kiss on the cheek? Just a smooch?" 

Everyone got themselves into the car, and Harry started it, driving off and out of the damned parking lot that had become too familiar. It was amazing, it felt like freedom. No more hospital smell, no more hospital gowns, surgical masks, latex gloves, technical medical terms and doctors. It was just each other now, and they would never get sick of that. 

**Author's Note:**

> My wattpad is: Direction_Minx  
> If you want to check out the other one shots go there! If not, bookmark this series and there will be more to come! 
> 
> Please comment, I'd love to know what you thought about this :)
> 
> (Ps: This one shot was not thorrowly edited so please bare with me on mistakes)


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